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Saturday, November 3, 2018

Only the final score is a mystery

In the old days of the National Football League, the really,
really old days, there was a caveat issued by observers of the league that, every
once in a while, rang true. It went like this.

“On any given Sunday, any team in the National Football
League can beat any other team.” Made no difference if one of the teams was
much worse than the other. Anything was possible.

The first time I heard that expression, it was uttered by
Blanton Collier, the brilliant football mind who took over as coach of the
original Browns from Paul Brown back in the early 1960s.

(I later found out that famous expression was originally
made by Bert Bell, a team owner and coach in Philadelphia who later became commissioner
of the NFL from 1946 to 1959.)

Collier said it one week while discussing an upcoming
opponent, one that was clearly inferior to the Browns. Back then, though, just about
every other NFL team was inferior to the Browns.

Collier’s cautionary approach to the game allowed the
possibility that an upset was possible and not to automatically put the game in
the win column. Numerous coaches over the years glommed onto it before it
faded.

So what does that have to do with the Browns’ game Sunday
against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs? Well, this kind of fits the
Bell/Collier expression that became hackneyed over the years.

Here come the Chiefs rampaging their way through their 2018
schedule at a breakneck scoring pace behind the exploits of quarterback Patrick
Mahomes II, who has put up some stunning numbers in his first full season as a
starter.

The Browns are playing their worst football of the season
and just fired their head coach and offensive coordinator. It’s a classic case
of one of the best teams in the NFL against one of the worst. It’s so bad,
oddsmakers have installed the Chiefs as eight-point favorites on the road.

The Chiefs average nearly 37 points a game. They have scored
30 or more points in all but one game. Their only loss, a 43-40 setback in New
England. They seemingly score with ridiculous ease no matter where they are on
the field. The Browns, meanwhile, have encountered problems on both sides of
the ball with no solutions in sight.

To give you some idea of just how lethal the Chiefs’ offense
is, Dustin Colquitt has punted just 21 times in eight games. His brother
Britton, who boots for the Browns, has 59 punts. He reached 23 after the third
game.

In the interest of honesty, there is no way the Browns can stop
this offense, Bell’s bromide notwithstanding. Picking a winner in this one is
easy. The only mystery is how many points the Chiefs score.

The only chance the Browns have in this one is taking
advantage of the Chiefs’ lone weakness, their defense, and attempt to slug it
out offensively. The KC defense can’t stop the run, can’t stop the pass. It is
almost as bad as the offense is good.

It surrenders more yards a game than the offense musters and
has given up only five fewer points than the 2-5-1 Browns. That’s why the
offense has to literally outscore opponents to win.

Another possibility, albeit extremely slim. In fact, it is a
reach. Here goes. The Chiefs haven’t played a bad game on offense this season
They are due. It happens even to the best of teams. One stumble isn’t going to
hurt, right?

Then you snap out of it and realize two facts: The Cleveland
offense has slumbered the last three weeks. And on the other side of the
football, the secondary has been strafed repeatedly this season.

One can only imagine how much fun Mahomes will have Sunday
against that secondary. With tight end Travis Kelce, wide receivers Sammy
Watkins and Tyreek Hill and running back Kareem Hunt in his arsenal, this
promises to be an unfair fight.

Hunt, who played his high school ball at Willoughby South,
has compiled 854 yards and scored 10 touchdowns from scrimmage this season, proving
his rookie season was neither a fluke nor an aberration. He is as dangerous in
the passing game as he is in the ground game.

In a perverse way, at least for Browns fans, it will be a
treat watching Mahomes operate in almost surgical fashion. Having watched him in
other games, he has such a great feel for the game and almost always comes up
with the correct play. His unerring accuracy is a gift.

It’s as though the game has slowed down for Mahomes, whose
father was a journeyman pitcher in the major leagues from 1992 to 2003. He
sometimes sees things before they unfold. That innate talent cannot be taught.

Making it all happen up front is one of the best offensive
lines in the NFL. You don’t put up 430 yards a game by accident. Three members
of that unit are ex-Browns: Cameron Erving at left guard, Austin Reiter at
center and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz.

The Cleveland defense, which has not played well during the
current losing streak, is still without middle linebacker Joe Schobert. It will
be interesting to see how they perform now that defensive coordinator Gregg
Williams has added the duties of interim head coach.

The only hope the Browns have in slowing down Mahomes is
continuing their rather amazing string of takeaways, which now totals a
league-leading 22, six more than Chicago. That’s also a bit of a reach because
the meager Browns offense hasn’t capitalized much, but at least it will theoretically
keep the ball out of Mahomes’ hands.

With all due respect to Bell and Collier, this Sunday down
by the lakefront will not be one of those given Sundays. The Chiefs will
continue their plundering in rather easy fashion.

It will be close for a few minutes and the Browns might even
score their initial first-quarter touchdown of the season. But Baker Mayfield
will be on the receiving end of another NFL beatdown while Mahomes throws at least
four more touchdown passes against the beleaguered Cleveland secondary. Make
it: